


Finding Hell

by DarkSadisticAngel



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Best Friends, Imprisonment, Love Triangles, M/M, Preventers, Science Fiction, Sexual Content, Slave Trade, Slavery, Spaceships, Violence, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 18:38:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2438744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkSadisticAngel/pseuds/DarkSadisticAngel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heero leaves the Preventers, his comrades and his old life behind with his identity. Years later, and Heero, now a different person with another name, encounters his past unexpectedly again. 1x2, 1xRelena, Angst, Lemon/Lime, Non-Yaoi Hints, Violence, Yaoi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Hell

**Author's Note:**

> 2004/06/21, 2004/06/22, 2004/06/24, 2004/06/25.

'Heero... isn't it? Heero? Is that you?'  
Over the crowd's noise, he heard a man's voice call out. He paused. It was a name he had not heard for years. His old code name. After the quitting the Preventers, he had not expected to hear it again. After a brief hesitation, he turned.  
'It is you!'  
A tall blond hair man moved through the crowd towards him. The blond stopped before him, smiling with clear delight. He recognised the man instantly. Quatre Raberba Winner, young head of the massive Winner Enterprise and former Gundam pilot. His former comrade from the historic war between Earth and the Colonies.  
'Hello Quatre.'  
The man's smile dimmed at his impersonal, almost cool response. Puzzlement filled his eyes.  
'You've changed a lot. I almost didn't recognise you. You look completely different now.'  
'You've changed too.'  
He felt a conflicting sense of recognition and disconnection with the well dressed man beside him. Quatre had grown up into a man. His facial features were not longer as plump as before, but still it retained a trace of soft boyishness. Quatre stopped a few centimetres short of his own height, but still it was fairly tall. He had personally gotten use to towering over the majority in crowds, an unfortunate marked change from his short teenage years. He stood out too well now.  
'What are you doing here on Earth?' Quatre asked hesitantly. 'Did you come here on some sort of business? Or leisure?'  
'Work. But I've finished what I came here to do. I'm waiting for a space shuttle.'  
'Oh, would you like to have a drink together with me while you wait? Is your flight leaving soon?'  
He hesitated.  
'No, it isn't.'  
He wasn't quite certain why he did not straight out refuse. He had no urge to spend time with the blond. No matter. He shrugged it off as he found himself seated in the back booth at a tiny teashop. The location was private. Although he could still glimpse the few other customers in the shop through the thick green, leafy foliage of potted plants around them, their table were separated from the others by a thick panel of glass. The box was clearly a seating reserved for special clients. There was no doubt that Quatre clearly fell into the category.  
The blond man sat before him, enthusiastically talking about people whom he had no contact with for over five years. It felt strange hearing about them. They were part of his distant past. Their very names sounded foreign to his ears; Relena, Wufei, Trowa... and Duo, his old partner. He could recall the details attached to each of the names. The necessary data was still filed somewhere in his mind.  
'So that's what everyone been doing. What have you've been doing?'  
Quatre looked at him searchingly.  
'I have been... busy working.'  
'Oh?'  
He lapsed into silence, declining to give out more information. It wasn't necessary to explain what he had been doing. He was actually reluctant to do so. He didn't want to explain in depth why he was doing what he was doing. Quatre would demand it from him. With reason. In a time of general universal peace, there were not too many people would elect to work in the field that he did. He had chosen it over working for the Preventers, the inter-governmental watchdog for peace, and had explained his decision to no one. He had moved down from being a soldier for an ideal world, to being a soldier for fortune. He had left civilisation for the forgotten outskirts and there, he had walked over the edge.  
The jobs he took on were a lot more messier than the cases that he had handled in the Preventers. Even in the past Wars, the lines had been more clearly drawn. The assignment he had just finished in the left over wildness on Earth had been brutal and messy. He had no urge to recall it. Especially now that he was back in civil society and before Quatre. The blond would no doubt make an issue over it. In his occupation, he walked the thin line between a killer and a murderer. And sometimes, the area was too grey and the line was not even there.  
He stared down at the tea in his cup. It was down to the halfway point. He picked it up.  
'Is destroying yourself what you want?'  
His hand froze halfway between lifting his teacup. He looked slowly up from the red brew to Quatre's face. The blond looked at him with uncomfortably direct eyes.  
'Why, Heero?'  
He should have expected it. It had been his mistake to further communications with his old comrade. Quatre had always been too perceptive. He lowered down the tea cup in his hand.  
'The 'why' doesn't matter anymore,' he answered softly. 'The mission's already been accomplished.'  
He stood up from the table.  
'Thank you for the tea.' He reached for his wallet in his back pocket. 'It was nice seeing you.'  
He threw down a large note and turned to leave.  
'Wait! Don't go!'  
'I have to board now.'  
A hand reached out and grabbed his wrist firmly. He turned. Quatre looked at him with a pleading expression.  
'Stop doing this to yourself. Heero, you have people who care about you! When you disappeared, leaving only your resignation on Wufei's desk, everyone was so worried about you! Especially Relena! Relena went out of her head with worry when you left! She didn't sleep or eat properly for weeks!'  
'And now? Relena is well, isn't she? I am not needed in her life, Quatre. She told me that herself. She's a grown adult,' he said icily. 'I am no longer, and need not to be, her protector. And I am quite sure everyone has gotten on with their own lives. Don't try to pretend that there's a place for me waiting still.'  
Quatre paused.  
'There still is, Heero.'  
He gave Quatre a sceptical look. Quatre met it with a straight gaze.  
'Wufei's never handed your resignation to Une,' he said quietly. 'Trowa redrafted himself into the Preventers unofficially after you left, and took on the solo missions assigned to you. But Duo's been taking the brunt. He's been taking on the missions assigned to you both, and does it all himself- without anyone's help. Despite the fact doing so is damningly dangerous and bound to kill him, he refuses to take help- even ours- because he doesn't want to take on a new partner.'  
He stared at Quatre.  
Quatre looked unwavering back.  
'We've been waiting for you to come back all these years, Heero.' Quatre clasped both his hands over his own. 'Come back. Please.'  
A long stretch of silence followed as he attempted to absorb the information Quatre gave him. His lips tightened.  
'I'm not Heero.'  
He violently shook off Quatre's hold, turned and left.

 

There were the usual screaming and yelling of bids at the selling bay. Despite his height, he could barely make out the long hair slave on offer who was kneeling on the grimy platform through the waving hands of the crowd. His attention however, was not on the human produce, no doubt some pitiful entrapped female, but on a distant sandy hair man standing at the far left, near the opposite edge of the gathered crowd to where he stood. The man had a youthful face and was rather pretty actually- not at all like the mostly scarred and beaten in faces of crowd gathered around him, but he shared the crowd's common grisly metallic scarring; a characteristic of those who had lost parts of their body. Almost every standing man and few woman in the crowd had parts of their body replaced with metal; arms, legs and torso. From below the base of his neck, the singlet clad man had the majority of his exposed body made of metal. The extent of how much metal had replaced his flesh was stunning. It said much of experience the young man endured wordlessly. He looked to be more a sculpted metal statue than a living human.  
He made his way towards the man. He took care to avoid the sharp blades sticking out from various people. Most in the crowd had not replaced their lost parts with simple supplants, but with lethal weapons. It was not easy task to pass through the crowd. He was bleeding lightly from one unavoidable brush with a trio blade when he neared the other man's side.  
'Walker,' he called out.  
The man turned. His blue eyes widened.  
'Odin! You're back from Earth so soon. What are you doing here, sir? This isn't your usual place.  
'I can perhaps say the same of you. Here isn't where I expected to find you.'  
Walker pointed to the slave platform.  
'I didn't believe it at first but apparently someone's caught themselves an ex-Gundam pilot and is selling him on bay. I just came to take a look.' He shook his head. 'Ssh... it'll be risky business though keeping a slave like that. They say he's the second Gundam pilot.'  
He gave Walker a sharp look and swivelled his head towards the platform.  
'He's escaped OZ before and probably would escape again but I don't think any of the people bidding actually plan to keep him alive for him to try. Most of the crowd bidding now are either ex-military from OZ or White Fang faction etcetera, and have a few issues remaining from the Wars.'  
Upon closer inspection, he recognised the kneeling figure. There was no mistaking which of his former war comrades it was. Duo Maxwell. He had not changed much in build from before. Although Duo had broadened a little across the shoulders, and was clearly a man and no longer a skinny boy; he had not filled out all that much. In his slumped over position, it had been hard to tell his gender from a distance. Especially since Duo still kept his hair long. It hung limply down his shoulders; half unbound or pulled out from his customary braid. Duo's chestnut fringe hid his eyes from view as he knelt in a begging position before the jeering crowd on his knees and face. His hands were bound behind him by heavy duty handcuffs. A thick chain led from a collar on his neck was connected to the steely, wrist handcuffs. It was clearly by the state of the bloodied and ripped Preventer uniform he wore that deep bruises, and perhaps more severe damage, lay concealed under it.  
He hissed through his teeth.  
'How much is bidding up to now?'  
'Three quarter of a million, sir.'  
He flinched then scowled.  
'I don't want to pay that much for a stupid piece of flesh.'  
'You want him?' Walker gave him an odd look.  
'No. Just the opposite.'  
'Did you have a bad run in with the Gundams during the Wars too? I did- heck, it cost me over half my body, but holy hell, I wouldn't want to bid that much for revenge. That's plain ridiculous, sir.'  
He grunted and shrugged.  
'I'm going in.'  
He began to move into the main body of the yelling crowd bidding for possession of the ex-Gundam pilot. In many of the voices of the ex-military personnel in crowd, all who had been on losing side of the Wars, hatred and anger was presented. It had been this bitter rage that pushed up the bidding price. Clearly many of the crowd still desired revenge for their loss in the Wars, however delayed or petty. Or stupid. He personally shared Walker's views. Even if he hadn't been a Gundam pilot during the Wars, and like Walker, had been one of the many men in the crowd who had lost limbs, family and close comrades to the Gundams, he'd consider handing over a huge amount of money for petty revenge was, indeed, a very stupid thing.  
Walker followed him with a puzzled look on his face.  
'Are you sure about this?'  
'Yes.'  
They stopped in front of the auctioneer. He looked up at the auctioneer, then to his right at the platform Duo knelt on. He hesitated briefly. He had wanted nothing to do with his past and Duo was a clear reminder of it.  
'Well it's your money, sir,' Walker said doubtfully.  
'I know that- too well!'  
He reluctantly raised his hand and joined in the bidding. He would kill Duo later for disturbing him. Slowly. To make sure he got his money's worth.

 

He naturally won the bidding. No fool other than him would put up the amount of money he did on a piece of half dead flesh. It had been well over a million. He did not want to think about exactly how much he had spent. It had been blood money, but it had still been his money. A grumpy, dark scowl settled over his face and stiffened into place.  
He climbed up on stage. He shrugged off the warm backslap of the grinning auctioneer, and walked towards the kneeling man. The crowd before the platform began to dissipate. Buyers and onlookers headed towards other auction stalls. Walker stayed on the ground. His face was pale and the sandy hair man looked ill as he leant against the raised platform for support. Walker had been shell-shocked by the end sum of his bid.  
The poor man hand not understood his actions. He himself, didn't as well. Duo was part of the past he had shed. Any connections associated with his old war time identity were not relevant to his current one. If Duo died, he would not be affected. They were no longer partners. They were not comrades. They were perfect strangers. At least, they should be. Perhaps it was that meeting with Quatre that was responsible for the odd feeling inside him. Whatever it was, he felt damningly strange when he looked at Duo. Seeing him was different from hearing about him. In living flesh, Duo was a harder presence to ignore. He always had been. Which was part of the reason why he had made his departure in secret. His old partner would have followed him and disturbed him if Duo had known about his plans.  
Duo was too emotional. He despised emotions.  
He remembered nothing from his earlier years except for the crushing oppression of it. Sorrow and self-anger after his failure to keep the only person he had respected alive. Guilt after his mistake which had taken the life of a girl and her puppy younger than his own single digit age. And a whole neighbourhood of civilian casualties. Mistakes and more mistakes, all resulting in more innocent deaths.  
He had dealt with it. But nothing had prepared him for what followed after the Wars. Hope.  
It was the feeling that Relena Peacecraft had given him. A powerful peace proponent, she had been the key figure who had brought the war torn space Colonies and Earth together. She had stood for all he had dreamed about. She had grace, beauty and more than anything, she had brought light to the darkness within him. He had worshipped her. When Relena had become his, he had thought himself finally freed. He had thought Relena loved him. He had rejoiced, silently, in the blissful vision of personal peace which Relena had offered him. He had thought himself forgiven.  
He should have known better.  
Relena had not loved him. He had been fooling himself. He had not been granted reprise from his sins, but a mere damning illusion. Emotions were treacherous, and could not be trusted. Numbness was much preferable. Not caring made everything basic and simple. It made it so much easier to kill, and perform well in his current work.  
He looked down at the figure of Duo kneeling before him. He didn't know how Duo got on to the slave block- probably the idiot had fumbled a mission. It made him angry. He did not want his past to interfere with his life now. He glared down at his new purchase. The long hair man did not look up. He frowned and nudged Duo in the side with the tip of his steel clad boots. Duo toppled over. His head banged on the wooden platform as he fell with a thud. Duo's eyes were closed. He was unconscious.  
He looked darkly at the auctioneer.  
'He's not in very good condition,' he noted coldly.  
The auctioneer appeared nervous.  
'Sorry, but he was given to us in that condition.'  
'Who by?'  
'I'm not at liberty to say.'  
'I want to know who's handled the merchandise before me.'  
The auctioneer bit his lip and looked shiftily sideways.  
'I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you.'  
'I'm buying.'  
The auctioneer looked troubled.  
'Very well, but you must keep this a secret,' he shuffled forward and tiptoed himself up. 'It was...'  
He grunted and pulled away when the man finished.  
'The money will be in your account in less than an hour.' He turned and looked down the platform. 'Walker! Can you take this piece of-' he uttered an extremely rude obscenity that made Walker flinch, 'and keep him for me? I have a few things to do before going back to the office. Is there any urgent matters that I should be aware of?'  
'No sir!' he straightened up and snapped a sharp salute with his metal arm. It was a habit Walker kept from the time he had served under the OZ Mobile Suit military division. 'There aren't any messages for you. You've only a few small local jobs lined up, but they can wait. Business is kind of slow this month.' Walker cocked his head. 'I think the corporation bosses up there are doing their tax returns or something. Either that, or they're still recovering from fighting within themselves last month. I suppose structural reorganisation takes time, sir.'  
'I see.'  
Without taking another look at the unconscious Duo, he leapt off the platform past Walker and made his way through the remaining crowd. He knew he could rely on Walker to take care of Duo. Despite not looking like one, Walker was the best medic in the rogue Colonies. He had quit being a soldier and undergone unofficial training during the Wars after his life had been salvaged from death by a group of expert medics. Walker once told him who had been responsible for the nearly lethal damage inflicted on his body. During the start of the Wars, he had been fighting with the third Gundam pilot, when the fourth one had intervened and blew the mobile suit he had operated up.  
Trowa had been the third Gundam pilot. Quatre had been the fourth. His attack had almost killed Walker during the war. Although Walker did not know it, the medical team that had saved him on Earth, and whom he had followed to the Colonies to train under after he had recovered, had been led by Iria Winner, Quatre's elder sister. It had been an ironic fact he had kept to himself. Not many people knew that the young Master of the Winner Enterprise had been the fourth Gundam pilot. It was not public information. To reveal it would reveal his own old identity; that of the first Gundam pilot, assumed to have died long ago.  
Walker only knew his current identity.  
Odin Lowe. Killer for hire.

Duo swayed dizzily back into consciousness. The blaring light above him burned into his eyes. He winched and shut closed his eyes. Damn, now where was he? He opened his eyes again, and squinted, attempting to focus on his surroundings.  
The muzzle of a gun greeted his sight.  
Duo swallowed.  
Oh fuck. He was still screwed.  
'Are you going to give me trouble, sir, or will you be good?' came a cool voice.  
'I'll be good,' his voice cracked.  
The gun withdrew from his line of sight.  
'That's good. I was a little bit worried that I would have to shoot you in the legs to keep you in bed. I don't like doing that with my patients. It creates more need for surgery than there should be.'  
Duo blinked. The room around him was sterile white. He was in a proper hospital bed, with an IV connected to a machine sticking out of his arm. But there were no windows in the room and the door to the side of him was made out of solid steel, with the tiny window slit in it barred.  
A medium tall man stood before him, dressed in a white coat, shirt and brown trousers. A stethoscope hanging around his neck and the medical chart in his left hand would have completed the perfect image of a doctor if it weren't for the fact the man held a gun in his right hand. That both his hands were made out from metal was also unusual feature for a doctor to have. Duo noted that a trace of metal peeking out from the white starch collar of the man's shirt. The metal which replaced his flesh actually covered a broader area of the man's body than seen, Duo realised. It was clear that the man was no ordinary civilian doctor.  
The man settled into a stool chair beside his bed, and looked down at him.  
'Erm... okay.' Duo looked at the stranger beside him. 'Uh, if you don't mind me asking, who are you and could you tell me where am I?'  
'To answer your first question, sir, my name is Walker, and to answer your second question, sir, you are in Hell.'  
His head felt woozy. Duo shook it, and immediately wished he didn't. It got worse.  
'I died?'  
'Oh no- not yet. You're still in the land of the living, I'm afraid to say. This is Hell. It's one of what you Preventers term a "rogue Colony".'  
His stomach dropped.  
'I'm on a rogue Colony?' Duo repeated weakly.  
He had been transported to a place worse than he had imagined. Rogue Colonies existed in the outer reaches of space. They were boiling spots of sin and corruption that had survived the Wars easily and had actually thrived on the human suffering during the conflicts. Rogue Colonies hosted an unruly, teaming uncivilised society in its midst, and provided a protective haven not even the Preventers, the intergovernmental organisation newly created after the Wars to ensure peace and order, could even touch.  
The naming of the rogue Colony was certainly apt. He was stranded in Hell.  
Walker titled his head and gave Duo a sympathetic smile.  
'Get some rest, sir. You'll probably need it when your new Master arrives.'  
'My what!?'  
'I see that he's awake,' a new voice broke in.  
'You're a little late, sir. I thought I was just going to be babysitting your new pet for a few hours, not a couple of days.'  
'Sorry, but business kept me away longer than I thought it would.'  
Duo stared at the new arrival. He blinked. Heero!? Was that Heero? The brown hair man before him did not look much like his memory at all. The man was taller than Quatre, and Quatre had far surpassed the others ex-Gundam pilots in his late growth spurt. He was a giant. The man loomed large in the room, his icy presence draining the atmosphere of any warmth. There was something in the man's fluid movement that made Duo's senses scream out danger as the man approached him.  
But there was no mistaking the messy brown locks and the too pale skin colouring. Heero's locks still tumbled wildly over his forehead, his dark brown strands partially covering his fathomless Prussian blue eyes. His face had not changed much over time. It had gotten a little more angular, but nothing else had changed.  
A smile formed on his lips and he opened his mouth to speak. His voice died in his throat as he met the man's eyes. There was no trace of recognition or warmth in the oddly familiar Prussian blue depths. They were not Heero's eyes. He was looking into the eyes of a stranger. No matter what mask Heero wore, his vivid eyes had always given away his emotions. They showed his humanity. There was nothing whatsoever in the person's eyes before him. Heero was like ice. The man before him was like solidified liquid nitrogen.  
His smile died. Duo swallowed.  
'Who are you?'  
The man surveyed him expressionlessly.  
'Your new Master,' he replied coolly.  
Walker chuckled. 'I'll leave you with him. Keep in mind he's an ex-Gundam pilot, so be careful. He's going to be tricky to keep. You'll better look after him and make sure he doesn't become a problem.'  
The brown hair man gave the other man a sideways look.  
'I'll kill him if he becomes one.'  
The sandy blond man nodded.  
'I'll leave you alone, sir.'  
A cold shiver ran up Duo's spin as the other man exited. He was left alone in the room with the frightening stranger before him.  
He had to get out.  
In a quick movement, Duo dove out of the bed. He ignored the sharp twang in his arm as his IV snapped out. He hit the floor on his feet. Duo sprinted towards the door.  
'Idiot.'  
He found himself flying back onto his back.  
'Oof!'  
His hands were grabbed and suddenly he was pinned down on the cold ground forcefully. Duo whimpered in pain. The dark brown hair man glared down at him.  
'Just where do you think you're going fool?!' he hissed out. 'Have you lost your wits, Duo?'  
Anger sparkled in the man's blue eyes. Duo looked up in shock at the familiar sight.  
'Heero!? Is that you?' he whispered. The emptiness in the blue Prussian depths was gone. Here was the Heero he knew. Cranky and upset at him. The stranger had disappeared. He slumped in relief against the floor. 'You scared me to death back then. God I thought... but it was you!'  
Heero looked taken aback by Duo's reaction. Puzzlement flickered across his face then irritation. He scowled.  
'You're not making any sense-'  
Duo slipped out of Heero's hold and grabbed him. He hugged the stunned man tightly.  
'Get a hold on yourself,' Heero attempted to shove Duo away. He was unsuccessful.  
Duo kept his tight hold on Heero, unwilling to release him. He was unable to actually. Insuppressibly euphoria filled him. Duo burrowed his head into Heero's chest, uncaring of the familiarity of his action. He was too glad to see Heero to care. He breathed in the Heero's scent. His heart squeezed painfully as he recognised the familiar combination of gunpowder, grease, and something else that was Heero's own. His heart squeezed. If he believed in God, he would have prayed for time to stop.  
'Duo...' Heero growled.  
'I've missed you Heero,' he whispered. 'I'm so glad I've finally found you- even if it's in Hell! Of all places!' he chortled, then coughed. 'Fuck, my ribs hurt.'  
'Hn.'  
Duo smiled at the familiar grunt as Heero relaxed in his arms. He had missed it. Duo struggled within himself for composure. Finding it at last, he managed to pull back from Heero. He looked up at Heero with an embarrassed grin.  
'Sorry about that,' he gave a strained laugh. 'Guess I got a little carried away there. I don't suppose you could you tell me why I'm here? What exactly did you mean by saying you were my "Master"?'  
Heero stiffened and looked a little awkward.  
'You don't remember?'  
Duo gave Heero a puzzled look.  
'Remember what?'  
'You were being sold on at a slave auction. I bought you.'  
Duo's jaw dropped.  
'I what!? You what!? Hell, the last thing I remember was being knocked on the head by some big mean mother You're telling me that I'm your slave!? Are you joking?'  
'No. This is no ordinary Colony Duo. It's a rogue Colony. People are kidnapped and sold as slaves here all the time. Hell is one of the main rogue Colonies in space, and a large centre for such trading, in addition to other illegal activities. Any one who is brought here as a slave wears a slave collar, which is almost impossible to remove,' Heero reached up and touched Duo's neck with his index finger. He traced it down the throbbing vein in Duo's throat and curled his finger around a collar Duo belatedly noticed he was wearing. 'This is a collar marking you as my property. It is made of a Gundamium alloy. It would be easier to tear your head off than to remove this without the key to it.'  
'Who has the key? I want to get rid of it!' Duo grabbed the collar and tugged at it. 'Damnit, I'm no one's slave!'  
'I have the key, and I'm not going to remove it.'  
'What! Heero, what the heck are you on about!?'  
'I'm not going to remove it because your safety will not be guaranteed otherwise. You're too weak to survive without my protection.'  
'I can take care of myself!'  
'No.'  
Duo found himself looking in the face of the stranger that he had first encountered. His skin prickled in fear at the sheer lack of humanity he saw. The person before him looked coldly at him.  
'You will obey my orders here.'  
'The heck I will! What is wrong with you Heero? Don't you trust me, or something? Shit Heero, we're partners!'  
'Don't reminiscence over the past. I'm not your partner or Heero anymore.'  
'Okay, if you're not Heero, then who are you!? Hey!?'  
'Odin Lowe.'  
The name rang alarm bells inside Duo's head. Odin Lowe. It was the name that he had heard of before. The Head Supervisor, Lady Une had assigned him the task of tracking down the man eight months ago. Odin Lowe was the name of a hired killer which had surfaced on a deep undercover mission Trowa had carried out. They knew the killer to be closely linked somehow to the secret arms trade conducted between the Colonies and Earth. In what way, they did not know but planned to find out. He had been unsuccessful in encountering his target, but he had become familiar with his work. The sickening array of messes the hired killer had left behind was beyond human.  
No one with the faintest trace of humanity could have done the work the killer did. He had puked over the left behind carcasses.  
It had been Odin's tracks he had been following when he had stumbled accidentally on the core of a major syndicate operation and had gotten captured.  
Heero had been Odin?  
Duo stared up at the man before him. He felt sick. He didn't want to believe it. Unknown to himself, his feelings were written clearly on his face.  
'I see that you know who I am. Now.'  
'Yes, I've been tracking your work,' he swallowed, 'but I've never expected Odin to be you!' He looked up at the dark hair man before him with betrayed eyes. 'Heero, what happened to you?' he whispered. 'Why the hell did you become an outright killer?'  
'Don't look at me like that.' Suddenly a flicker of irritation flashed past the man's face.  
'Why?' Duo whispered. 'How am I suppose to look at you then?'  
'Just don't!'  
Duo did not see his fist coming. He only saw the darkness after the impact.

 

It was the sound of roaring that woke him up. Duo groggily opened his eyes and looked around. He was on a tiny shuttle. He was the only passenger. The seats before him and to left of him were all empty. He was slumped against the back row seat. It looked like he had been out for a couple of hours. To his right, stars dizzily spun in the small window cut out from steel. Suddenly the engines died, and a deathly silence intruded. The outside stars steadied themselves in the interlude. A beep sounded. Duo blinked and looked up the tiny aisle before him. A door in front of him slid open, and a sandy hair man appeared in the doorway.  
He was called Walker, Duo recalled.  
'Are you feeling okay, sir?'  
'I feel like the disembowelled rat the cat dragged in,' he straightened up and winced. 'Where am I now?'  
Walker walked over to Duo and sat in the empty seat next to Duo. 'I'm taking you back to civil society on Odin's orders. You can contact your base once we get there and report in.'  
He looked up at Walker, startled.  
'He's... letting me go?'  
'Yes,' Walker gave a smile. 'Odin judged that you wouldn't be able to return to Hell, even if you wanted to. So he decided it was safe enough for us to send you back- and better for you and us. He didn't want you near. You are after all, a tempting target for a lot of the crowd there. He didn't want to deal with it.' Walker sighed. 'I don't understand why he bought you in the first place if he was just going to let you go. But I'm not going to try to understand Odin, nor am I going to try or inquire what the relationship between you two is because whatever his motives are, it doesn't matter to me. I'm just his business partner.' Walker looked down at Duo and his smile dropped. The man's blue eyes turned to flint. 'But personally, I rather have you dead, sir, if you don't mind me saying so. You're a rather large risk.'  
Duo bristled.  
'I see. Are you going to try to kill me?'  
Walker shrugged and smiled again.  
'No sir. Odin wouldn't be happy if I disobeyed his orders.' He pulled out a letter. Walker folded it out and handed it to Duo. 'He wanted you to have this.'  
Duo stared down at the paper. His mind was spinning with the information Walker had given him.  
It hit him then.  
The bastard was trying to manipulate him out. No doubt Heero wanted to make his life easier. Heero had not judged him fit enough to kill for it though. He had probably thought merely sending the hassle out would be enough.  
Because he wasn't worth it. He was too weak. Duo bit his lip. Heero had always shown more by his actions than by speech. He had tossed Duo out like garbage.  
Anger flamed inside him. Within his anger, there was hurt.  
During the Wars, they had fought together as Gundam pilots. He hadn't been even half the perfect soldier Heero was, but he had at least made a good mark. When he entered the Preventers after the Wars, and Heero chose him as partner, he had felt pride. Heero had finally recognised him to be worthy, or so he thought. They had more than just a friendship- they had a real, solid partnership. They had slept, ate, lived and killed beside each other. It was a relationship thicker than blood.  
That consoled him in the dark hours when he found out he wanted to be more with Heero than was normal. It allowed him to suffer the envy he felt whenever he had looked at the impossibly beautiful relationship that developed between Heero, the protector of peace, and Relena, the bringer of peace.  
Of course, he had been lying to himself.  
It took the silent departure of Heero from the Preventers force to make him realise that he had been wrong. He had been reading too much into their partnership. Heero had not trusted him. Heero had not even liked him.  
It had hurt when he realised it then. It still did now.  
But like a fool, he still clung onto the vision that they were real partners. Maybe Heero did not care about him, but he had chosen him as a partner. It had to mean something, he had thought. Heero respected him at least. He had stayed at the Preventers, working his ass off solo because he had hoped Heero would come back.  
Encountering Heero again in Hell, with another partner in toll, showed him how stupid he had been.  
Partnership meant only business to Heero.  
Duo reached up and fingered the heavy weight around his neck. As his fingers brushed the collar he wore, cold realisation swept over Duo. He was still wearing Heero's brand. Heero hadn't taken his collar off.  
He was marked as being beneath Heero.  
The fuck he was! He'll show Heero! Nobody messed with him. He was no one's subordinate slave! Anger flared into rage inside him. Heero, Odin, it didn't matter, he was taking him down! He would get Heero's respect even if it killed him. Duo could not live without it. That would mean he'd really meant nothing to Heero.  
Anger and pain surged within him.  
He would not give up. He had a mission to complete! Even if he had to die to complete it, he would. Duo swore to himself. Fuck Heero! He would not give the other man reason to look down on him. He would catch Heero's ass and bring the bastard back to the Preventers. He would not go back to headquarters like a kicked dog with his tail between his legs. Duo wouldn't be able to meet the other guy's eyes if he did. He had his pride too.  
Duo shoved the letter back into Walker's hands.  
'Walker... take me back to Hell.'  
Walker lifted an eyebrow in surprise.  
'Are you sure, sir? It took a lot to hire this shuttle out. I don't think Odin will be too pleased if you decided to waste his efforts.'  
'Screw him. I'll handle the bastard.'  
Walker smoothed out and folded the letter. He placed the paper back into his pocket.  
'Well, it's fine by me, but you must understand that you bear the consequences of your actions, sir. Odin will be upset.'  
Duo snorted.  
'I can take him on any day!' he touched his sore jaw. 'If he'll just let me get in one punch, I'll show him what I'm made of.'  
Walker shook his head.  
'I'll be in the control room if you need me, sir.'  
Walker turned away and quickly left Duo alone to conduct his monologue.

 

He couldn't be bothered with taking off his boots. He staggered into his room. Blood dripped onto the floor as he headed for the bed in the corner. It was not his own. The job had been messy and burdensome, but the blood was not from work. It was from the entertainment in the circuits he had sought directly after it. Hell was the perfect playground from him. He could gather up enormous sums of money while dealing in the lethal sort of games he had grown too use to. Hell was a place that specialised in organised fights. Fights that were to the death and without any rules. Most entered in large groups to gain advantage. Very few entered as individuals. He always entered alone. It was not the money he sought from fighting, although he did regain the large sum he spent; it was the release. It gave him the relief he had been seeking after he had sent Duo off.  
He had just killed over eighty men in a space of two hours. It was only a little more than his average. The dark energy he got from his killing spree still circulated in his blood. He was too tired to take a shower but he was not too tired yet to not kill. He swept back his hair. Blobs of flesh splattered out onto the floor, impacting on the hard tiles with soft squishes. The truth was he still wanted to kill.  
His breathing became harsher.  
'Heero...?'  
His eyes snapped towards the bathroom. Duo stood before him, clad only in a towel. His slim, muscular figure was clearly outlined by bathroom light streaming through the open doorway behind him. He was upon Duo before he realised it. He only just managed to still his hand before he could plunge the deadly blade of the knife he had whipped out into Duo's throat. The tip of it instead clicked lightly on the metal slave collar Duo still wore around his neck.  
Duo jerked back against the door frame, his Cobalt blue eyes widening with shock. He could see the horror in Duo's eyes at the other man took in his bloodied and murderous appearance. The towel around Duo's waist dropped. It revealed Duo's penis standing up stiff in fear.  
He looked down at it then looked up slowly, his eyes leisurely tracing the beautiful shaped muscles of the shaking body before him. There was something erotic about looking at body of a man over which he held the power to let live or to kill. Perversely, the fact it was Duo's body, his old partner, turned him on in a peculiar way. He felt himself stir below. He smiled tightly and finally allowed himself to look into Duo's face.  
He locked his gaze onto Duo scared expression. Duo's pupils were wide, almost filling his irises. He sheathed his knife and took one step forward. Duo's knees buckled and the man began to slide down the doorway. He caught Duo's arms from underneath. His bloodied hands made pink smears on Duo's porcelain white flesh as the wet blood on his palms mingled with the shower droplets still remaining on Duo's skin. He held Duo up and watched as the pink rivets began form down the side of Duo's arm and onto his chest. The colour of the watered down blood was similar to the colour of Duo's erected nipples, he noted with fascination.  
Duo drew in a shuddering breath. His body shook in his arms.  
'Hee... ro?' Duo whispered. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you.'  
His head snapped up.  
Duo's face was deathly pale and the man looked clearly shaken. Duo's bottom lip trembled vulnerably despite the fact Duo was biting down on hard enough to create a bloody trail. The thin red trail trickled down his chin as Duo looked uncertainly upwards at him. He suddenly felt like a monster. No. He was one. There was no denying that he had gained sick, sadistic pleasure from overpowering Duo. Even as his head cleared, he still felt a pulling desire to take Duo and... no. If he wanted pleasure of that kind, there were plenty of other places which offered it. To force Duo to submit to him in that manner.... Heated desire flared within him. No! He battled the urge down. He would not think about it. Damn Duo. It was his fault. His presence was disturbing him.  
'Duo. What are you doing here?' he had to make a conscious effort to keep his voice even. 'I sent you out of Hell.'  
Duo's troubled face cleared. Relief appeared on his open expression.  
'I... well, came back.'  
'Why?'  
'Um... you didn't... ahem, release me?' He lifted a shaky hand and fingered the collar around his neck. 'I kinda figured it would be a bad fashion statement to go around with a chain around my neck that announces me as a slave. You didn't unlock it.'  
'....' He looked at the long hair man before him. 'I placed the key in your pocket.'  
'I didn't know.'  
'It was in the letter.'  
'Oh. I didn't read it.' A blush began to creep up Duo's face. He noticed it also expanded across Duo's bare neck and upper shoulders.  
'Duo... why did you really come back?'  
Duo stiffened, then looked hesitantly at him.  
'I'm bringing you in, Heero. That's my mission. You're wanted by the Preventers. We need your cooperation in helping us stop the arms trade between Earth and the Colonies.'  
He gave a short bark of laughter.  
'I'm no longer a Preventer, Duo. I've no obligation or urge to help. My fees are too expensive for the Preventers to afford.' His eyes narrowed as he looked coldly at Duo. 'And if you are thinking about taking me out by force, think again Duo. You're too weak to even try.'  
Duo went quiet.  
'Stupid as I am, I guess I knew that. But hey, like you always say, I am a blind optimistic moron,' Duo said bitterly. 'But tell me something, just how much do you think your soul is really worth?'  
He looked Duo straight in the eye, his lips twisted in a smile.  
'Nothing,' he said softly.  
Silence dropped again.  
Then Duo exploded.  
'Bullshit! Don't you dare say you're not worth anything! You are. You're worth everything to me! Shit man, I need you!'  
'Don't be an idiot, Duo!' he growled. 'I left the Preventers five years ago! I have no plans to go back there. Go find another partner.'  
'Hell Heero, don't you get it!? I can't work with anyone else!' Duo shouted back at him. 'I literally can't!'  
'Why not?'  
'Because you're my partner!'  
'Any one of the others can replace me.'  
'No they can't! They're not you, Heero! Don't you get it? I need fucking you! No one else.'  
'Are you serious?' he said in disbelief.  
'Yes! I need you! More than your new partner here in Hell! More than damn Relena ever did! Hell, I need you more than any fucker in space!'  
'Why?'  
'Because I can't live without you. Heero, if you won't be my partner anymore, kill me!'  
'Are you insane Duo?'  
'Yeah maybe! But hell, did you think only Relena cared for you? Do you think nobody cared for you!? Fuck! You're stupid if you do! Oh I see now! Is that why you ran when she stopped loving you? If so, you are a fucking idiot! You wanna know why? I'll tell you why! Because I love you! And I've never stopped! Heero, Odin- whatever! Who the hell do you think you're trying to pull with that name changing stunt!? You're you, whatever fucking name you try to go by! Stop trying to kill yourself! You can only kill people other than yourself. You're an incompetent suicider- haven't you gotten that in your thick skull yet!? Damnit, I don't know why I love such a moron! I can't- mmpf!'  
Duo's eyes widened with shock as he grabbed Duo and kissed him hard. Duo tasted of blood... and something else he could not describe, but liked. He flickered his tongue along Duo's own to investigate it further. He didn't know why he was kissing him. It just seemed to be the best way of shutting the long hair man up. Besides, Duo had practically invited him. He could tell that Duo did not mind it. Duo had only stiffened momentarily before melting into him.  
But it felt strange to have a man in his arms, he noted as he deepened the kiss. Duo was taller, harder, and more stronger than the women he had slept with... and a lot different from Relena. It was like embracing heated steel rather than soft warmness. He swept his hands over Duo's body, testing out the hard coiled sensation. It was not unpleasant at all. His breathing grew raspier as Duo rubbed himself against him. His pants suddenly felt too tight.  
Dirty redness from his clothes smeared on Duo's clean naked body. He placed his equally blood stained hands onto Duo's and smeared the redness over Duo's torso. Duo arched in his hold as he did so. He lowered his hands, down to Duo's hips and then down the raising manhood of Duo. He grasped Duo's erection and rubbed it. His skin felt like velvet against his palms. Duo moaned deep in his throat as he began to masturbate Duo below with firmer stokes. He leant and kissed Duo lightly on the lips. He continued to fondle the length of Duo's erection as he moved his mouth down Duo's neck. He licked at the soft skin behind Duo's ear. Duo grew longer and harder in his hands. Duo grabbed onto him tightly.  
He pulled back from the kiss and observed the heady look of desire on Duo's face. Duo looked up at him with befuddled eyes. He wanted to...  
'Heero...?'  
It was Duo's voice that broke his trance. What was he really doing? It was Duo in his arms. He was preying on Duo, his... friend. He hissed and pulled back abrupt. Duo toppled against him.  
'Damn!'  
He reached out and pulled Duo into his embrace to steady him.  
'Duo- I'm sorry!'  
'...what?' Duo said weakly.  
'I'm sorry, Duo. I didn't mean to....'  
Duo tensed in his arms.  
'You don't want me?'  
'....' He closed his eyes in guilt. 'No. I mean, yes, I don't know!' He swallowed. 'I'm sorry.'  
Silence fell. It stretched for eternity between them. Finally, Duo broke it.  
'Kill me.'  
'I can't kill you! You're my...' he searched desperately for the word to describe how he felt about Duo. 'Friend,' he finally finished, after a long silence. He had been unable to think of a more fitting word. He wasn't sure what they were now. They were friends. He realised now that they had been friends even throughout the years, but now.... something had changed. He wasn't sure what. His damnable emotions were confusing him. He attempted to ruthlessly suppress the conflict inside, but for the first time in years, he couldn't find the strength. His emotions were too overwhelming, as if a tide had burst free from a damn.  
'Help me here Duo,' he whispered.  
Duo laughed after a short pause. His voice sounded dangerously off the edge.  
'Are you serious?' Duo asked through choked laughter. 'Are you fucking serious?' his voice broke on a high pitch note.  
He opened his eyes and looked down in concern at Duo. 'Look, I really didn't mean to hurt you, I just-'  
'Shut up Heero!' Duo's cobalt blue eyes turned to sharp flints as the long hair man glared at him with a mixture of hatred, hurt and longing. Duo took in a deep shuddering breath and drew himself up. 'You've already failed that too many times.' Duo turned away briefly before looking back at Heero. A distant mask appeared on his face. 'Can I ask you something, Heero?'  
He looked at Duo in concern. He did not speak.  
'Do you still want to die?'  
He felt confused.  
'I... I don't know,' he said quietly. 'Maybe.'  
The long hair man's shoulder sagged. Sad resignation briefly flashed in the depths of Duo's deep Cobalt blue eyes just before the mask appeared again. Duo looked up and gave a quirky smile.  
'Nice Heero, after kissing my beautiful lips, you don't want keep on?' he sighed. 'A permanent death wish still, hey? I guess someone's gotta do the job properly since you obviously can't.'  
It was on sheer reflex that he jerked back. He barely managed to avoid the slash of silver that flashed past his throat. By a mere millimetre.  
In a move quicker than the lightening flash of steel, he grabbed Duo's hand and jerked it. A knife fell to the floor with a clatter and he kicked it. Duo had swiped the knife from his side sheath. The man was not to be underestimated. He pushed Duo hard against the doorway and pinned down both of Duo's arms. He looked down Duo as the man struggled in his grip.  
'Why did you try to kill me?'  
'Fuck, didn't you want to die!? You called the God of Death, and he answered!' Duo snarled at him. 'Damnit Heero, is there nothing I can do for you that you won't reject?' Frustrated tears burned in Duo's eyes.  
'Duo, can't you see that I'm confused at the moment!?' he snapped. 'I don't know what I'm doing, let alone what I want!' He pulled then slammed Duo against the wall. 'I just know that I want to be with you for just a little longer to figure it all out, so for goodness sake Duo, give me time! Don't drive me crazy in the process!'  
He pushed his lips onto Duo's lips and forcibly kissed him. It took barely a split second for Duo to respond. It was a long, heated kiss that left both of them short of breath when they finally parted.  
Duo looked up dazed at him.  
'Heero...?'  
'....'  
'I think you're barny already.'

 

He pulled back from the controls and switched his side off. Walker worked on beside him. He glanced at Walker then looked out the forefront window in front of the shuttle's control panel. The window took up the broad expense of the front. They were in the pilot's seats and had a clear view out. Before them, was a blank array of space studded with various natural galaxy bodies. There were not artificial Colonies in sight. Their new destination was more a few hours ahead. They had left the rogue Colonies district almost two hours ago, leaving behind them Hell.  
During the time, he had brought up Walker on a few select facts. He did not though, divulge much beyond the old history he had with the Preventers. Aside from the fact they had been on opposite sides, he never liked to speak of the wars he had fought before it. Walker wasn't the type to press. Instead, he sat and listened. Walker expressed no surprise at his matter-of-fact denouncement of his name. Both had known from the start it hadn't been his real name. Very few people who came to the rogue Colonies used their real name like Walker did. Most had a past to hide, like he had. And still did.  
The sandy blond man flicker several array of switches before him. After a small row of lights near his right hand lit up as green, Walker sat back with a sigh. 'Yes, done.' Walker turned towards him. 'So why did you pick "Odin Lowe" as a name?'  
He shrugged.  
'I thought it was appropriate.'  
'What do you mean?'  
'It was the name of the man who killed the original Heero Yuy. I decided to use it after I stopped using my former code name.'  
'Which was?'  
'"Heero Yuy".'  
'....' Walker looked at him with a pained expression. 'I must say sir, that's in rather bad taste.'  
'The person who assigned me the name had extremely awful taste when selecting names. He was my superior for some time. It's not the worst I've endured.'  
'So what name do I call you by now?'  
He thought for a moment.  
'I was thinking alongside a number. It would be easier to deal with.'  
'He's Heero Yuy, the one and only now,' came a cheerful voice.  
'I see that you're awake, sir.'  
He looked up at new arrival with a frown.  
'I don't like that name,' he glared at Duo.  
Duo glared right back, his cobalt blue eyes sparkling with fire.  
'I do.'  
He scowled.  
'I would much prefer a number.'  
Walker looked at him almost pitifully then shook his head and stood. 'Well, I'll leave you two to sort it out. I've set the course on auto-pilot. I'm going to get some rest before we hit civilisation again so pardon me, sir.' Walker saluted casually out of habit and exited the control room, leaving him alone with Duo.  
Once left alone with Duo, he looked up expectedly at Duo.  
'Well, what do you want?'  
Without saying a word, Duo went over to him and grasped his right hand. He was surprised by the action.  
'Duo?'  
For a long moment Duo did not speak. Instead, Duo cupped his hand with his own two, and moved his hand towards his neck, against the slave collar he wore. The metal was cool to touch. It had not absorbed much of Duo's body heat.  
'I've looked, but the key wasn't in any of my clothes,' he said quietly. 'You took it, didn't you?'  
He hooked a thumb around the collar and rubbed it between with his index.  
'How did you know that you didn't lose it, and I did?'  
'I didn't. I just hoped.'  
'Why?'  
'I didn't want to go back to Hell to search for it.'  
He sighed.  
'I took the key back,' he gruffly admitted.  
'Why?'  
He stood up from his seat.  
'I don't know. It was an illogical action. But I don't want to give it back. At least, not just yet.'  
'Feh. It seems to me that you don't know a lot of things. Are you an idiot?'  
'Maybe I am.'  
He pulled the shorter man towards him. Duo fell against him with a surprised yelp.  
'Heero!?'  
He turned Duo towards him and held Duo against him again.  
'Just keep quiet. I just want to hold you, not kill you.'  
'Heero...?'  
'But I might reconsider it if you don't shut up.'  
'....' Duo burrowed his face into his chest.  
The long hair man did not speak as he leant over and kissed the nape of Duo's neck, directly above the silver collar Duo still wore. Duo's shoulders shook as he held onto him. The long hair man was not crying, but shivering from an inner fear he knew that he could not well yet counteract for Duo. He could not make any promises yet. Before him laid the task of becoming Heero Yuy again, a being he had destroyed. He would have to face a lot of things to bring him back again. He had to face the consequences of his dereliction of duty, honour and ethics. And he had face the complex emotions he still had for Relena, along with guilt, regret, pain and many other ugly emotions.  
Despite the fact it frightened him, he was willing to try. Because Duo had reached out to him. Because Duo had cared. And most of all, because he had Duo who needed him to be. Without Duo beneath him, he would fall.

 

Fin


End file.
